Sports day! Or should I say two days. Maybe more like two weeks. When sports are going on at school, or when there is training for them, school, in my fellow teachers' words is "ineffective". While in the US sporting events for school are after school or the weekends, sports are right in the middle of the week, in this case Wednesday and Thursday. Learning in school does not take place during these days; instead, the entire school shows up at Dzolokpuita (a town about a 50 minute walk away) to compete in our little sporting bloc.
Unfortunately, while I did not participate as a coach or a referee, I like to think I provided some emotional support being the only 'yevu' (white person) at a sporting event with over 250 people to the students at my school. Now, not only will an unnamed member of my family only see pictures of me with other Peace Corps Volunteers, but that person will see me now sitting watching football and at a palm-wine spot with a fellow teacher.
My small boy, who it about 4 years old can speak only a small small English, I can now deal with appropriately by giving him small tasks like carrying my soap to the shower, hanging up my clothes after I wash them, fetching me water, etc. I have about 50 pictures of him because he insists on Kofi Photo Shoots to broadcast his bling (my personal items he finds interesting) like my watch, sunglasses (gankui), hat (kuku), and shirt (dzimewui). He wants to know about America, but I can't communicate to him about all the subtleties of US life. I like to think that I'm getting a taste of what being a dad is like because he routinely falls asleep in my lap and then I carry him back to his bed. Also, I have the responisblility, per se, of entertaining him if we aren't doing anything else that evening. The other little girl who lives in my complex is a little over 2 years old, but for some reason the last 2 weeks whenever she sees me she runs away! It wasn't like that, say, a month ago, but I can't imagine what's going through her head.
Teaching is going well, but our syllabus of topics we need to cover is way larger than the amount of time we have for it. ICT is easy to fit in all the topics, but Math is much harder. Out of the 150 pages I am supposed to teach this year, after the first term I will be about 10 pages behind!
For some reason, Blogger won't let me upload photos or videos here, so go to facebook to see photos and videos.
Fun facts:
One of the popular songs here is currently titled "Sex Machine"
I found out one of the students who comes to me for ICT to use my computer in Junior High School is 22.
My fellow teacher says she is too skinny and 'wants to get fat' to get a husband soon.
I am, on average, at 6'0 about 6 inches taller than the typical Ghanaian man.
Still malaria-free
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
It's Friday!
Friday! But aren't I supposed to be teaching on Friday? You would be correct, on Fridays I do teach. So what am I doing in my regional capital Ho and not at school?
Oh, well our school has started athletics, and next Friday is our first outing. But our students can't come after school because most of them have to go and farm; so we hold practice from 5:15am until about 8:30am. Then the students go home and are supposed to bathe, change clothes, and come back to school.
Well, today being Friday all of the students that are playing on teams (more than half of the school) decided just to take the rest of the day off. Y'know, start the weekend early. School is supposed to start at 7:45, so I arrive at 7:30 every day, and by the time 10:00 had passed, they were only about 40% of students at the school. I should also mention that our school has 6 teachers and 1 headmaster, yet for most of the morning I was the ONLY teacher on the schoolgrounds, responsible for 40 mid-teenagers.
Some friends were coming to Ho today, and as such I spontaneously decided to come and meet them. I rode my bike to the nearest large town and caught a ride to the city.
I should mention that even though we are in a third-world country, and cars and generally crappy, some taxis CAN go fast. In fact, my one today topped out at around 135 km/hour (around 84 mph). This wouldnt bother me on a freeway, but Ghanaian roads have blind corners, not to mention we pass numerous small towns. We made it alive with 7 people in our taxi (people learn that personal space is only optional).
Next week, I have an In-Service Training with most of my friends in Education, so I am looking forward to that.
The things I miss most about the US is food.
Current Weight - 172 pounds (about 5 less than when I came here)
Number of canings witnessed - 100+
Average number of eggs eaten, per day - 4
Oh, well our school has started athletics, and next Friday is our first outing. But our students can't come after school because most of them have to go and farm; so we hold practice from 5:15am until about 8:30am. Then the students go home and are supposed to bathe, change clothes, and come back to school.
Well, today being Friday all of the students that are playing on teams (more than half of the school) decided just to take the rest of the day off. Y'know, start the weekend early. School is supposed to start at 7:45, so I arrive at 7:30 every day, and by the time 10:00 had passed, they were only about 40% of students at the school. I should also mention that our school has 6 teachers and 1 headmaster, yet for most of the morning I was the ONLY teacher on the schoolgrounds, responsible for 40 mid-teenagers.
Some friends were coming to Ho today, and as such I spontaneously decided to come and meet them. I rode my bike to the nearest large town and caught a ride to the city.
I should mention that even though we are in a third-world country, and cars and generally crappy, some taxis CAN go fast. In fact, my one today topped out at around 135 km/hour (around 84 mph). This wouldnt bother me on a freeway, but Ghanaian roads have blind corners, not to mention we pass numerous small towns. We made it alive with 7 people in our taxi (people learn that personal space is only optional).
Next week, I have an In-Service Training with most of my friends in Education, so I am looking forward to that.
The things I miss most about the US is food.
Current Weight - 172 pounds (about 5 less than when I came here)
Number of canings witnessed - 100+
Average number of eggs eaten, per day - 4
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